The Mission_A New Earth Novella

by MJ McGriff

  I could make an educated guess the more I thought about it. It all came down to security. People would freak out if there was a whole other nation of people. It was illegal and like other things of that nature, there needed to be an investigation before things went public.

  I handed the tablet back to him. “Why are you telling me all this?”

  “I’m not trying to make enemies here. All I want is for us to be able to coexist with one another and maybe one day trust each other.”

  I was more confused than ever about Oliver. He dropped the whole salesmanship act from earlier, looking me in the eye with every word he spoke. “And I should trust you?”

  “Haven’t I been true to my word up until now?”

  Yes, so far, but how long would it last? When would the other shoe drop? No matter how well he treated us, we weren’t allowed to leave.

  “What if I told you I planned to release you and your friends at that meeting?”

  I searched his face for any sign he was lying. A twitch, a sideways glance, a hand over his mouth. All the signs my father taught me during my training. Nothing.

  “Letting us go does what for you?”

  “Like I told Verona, a sign of good faith. The president doesn’t trust me yet.”

  “A sign of good faith would’ve been letting us go in the first place.”

  “Then you would give away our position. Make it easier to find and arrest us all before they even heard what I had to say.”

  Oliver wasn’t wrong about that. Many of those guys I worked with on security wanted any excuse to start shooting. That hostage situation alone gave them a reason to be trigger happy. My father would have them hauled away without question because they captured me.

  “All the work and innovation I’ve done here would’ve gone to waste,” Oliver continued.

  I turned back to the farms behind us. I couldn’t deny that. What they were doing was nothing short of amazing. It would do wonders back at the other two sectors.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “You’ll only be with us for one more night. We leave in the morning.”

  I nodded and asked to go back to join the others. There was so much to tell them and not enough time.

  ***

  “I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Flo stood next to me as we waited to be put on board one of the transport vehicles.

  I didn’t blame her. I could hardly sleep last night, my head reeling with all the ways this thing could go wrong.

  “This is going to blow up in his face,” Phoenix quietly added.

  Thomas looked just as concerned as the rest of us but for different reasons. He wanted more time to learn how these people used those colorful crystals for almost everything. I didn’t want to be there any longer than I had to, the mere act enough to get me sentenced to be a criminal forever. I wasn’t that curious to learn more about them, though I could understand what they were trying to do. On the other hand, if everything went to plan, my dad would never let me outside the confines of that wall again. His worst nightmare had come true. I would be lucky to be able to use the restroom without an armed escort.

  Verona arrived and shoved each of us into the transport. Unlike the one we arrived in, the back cab was open to the elements as well as two long benches for a much more comfortable ride. The four of us sat on one side while Verona and three armed guards sat opposite of us, energy rifles in their laps. A few moments later, Oliver climbed in, sitting on the end and right in front of me.

  “Are you ready?” he asked me.

  “Are you?” I retorted.

  He chuckled and signaled the driver to take off. Instead of moving forward, the truck started to lift in the air. The four of us looked over the side in awe. We were hovering almost a foot off the ground, a bright blue light glowing from underneath.

  “Hover engines?!” Thomas exclaimed.

  “Yes, Thomas,” Oliver said. “Our brilliant mechanical engineers figured out how to use Oranium to power them.”

  The caravan of ten vehicles in front of us filled with armed men started to lift. We coasted through the tall gate made of a couple of sheets of metal. The large gate doors clanked shut behind us and we were in the middle of the forest. The dark green leaves created a canopy so thick it was hard for the sunlight to get through. I took a deep breath in and a citrus-like scent filled my nostrils. I soon found out where that delicious smell was coming from. We whizzed by bushes with round, white fruits hanging from them. I was sure they tasted as delicious as they smelled.

  We spent a lot of the day traveling through that forest to nothing but the sound of the birds and the hover engines. Night was beginning to fall when we came out of that forest and into the rock formation field where they captured us. Instead of crossing the plains we headed straight to the mountains. We slowed down when we approached a large cavern on the side of the mountain range. The vehicles circled around a large stone pit with gray ashes.

  They’ve been here before.

  Some in the traveling party set up a perimeter around the mouth of the cave. A few others unloaded the food supplies and started to make a fire. The rest hung out by the trucks to chat and laugh with one another. Verona and her team escorted us out of the truck and led us to the cavern itself. I felt a hand take my arm and it was Oliver.

  “A word?” he asked.

  I slowly nodded, watching the others get led away before I turned to him.

  He wasn’t the calm and cool Oliver back at his commune. He was rubbing his sweaty palms on the sides of his pants and found it hard to look me in the eyes. Even in the moons’ light, I could see his face was a bit flushed. It was oddly comforting. He was behaving like a normal human being.

  “Don’t tell me you’re nervous,” I said.

  “Should I be?” he asked with a slight smile.

  “Extremely.” I crossed my arms, looking around. They had everything guarded pretty tight. Even if I did make a break for it, I would be running around in circles in the dark.

  “You think this is a bad idea.”

  “It’s too late for that.”

  He looked around. “I guess so.”

  I almost felt sorry for him. He was in way over his head. Then I remembered how my father talked to me when I was nervous about my first day as a shift leader. I was young. A lot of those security guys already felt I only got the position because of my father. I thought I was way in over my head.

  “You gotta toughen up,” I said.

  He cocked his head to the side. “What?”

  “Toughen up. Do you want to create a new nation? Do you want to be taken seriously tomorrow? You gotta act like it. If you’re scared, suck it up. If you feel like this was a bad call, suck it up. Act like you’ve been doing this your whole life.”

  He straightened up. “Is that what you do? Suck up everything?”

  If he only knew how much I had to stuff things down. “It’s gotten me this far.”

  “As an officer?”

  “Security shift leader.”

  He put his hands up. “Color me impressed.”

  A chuckle slipped out and I regained my composure.

  “You shouldn’t look so serious all the time. That smile was a...nice change.”

  He is not flirting with me. I felt the blood rushing to my face and I looked away.

  “I still don’t know your name.”

  “Does it matter?”

  “It does when I tell the president about you.”

  I tapped my foot to get out all the jittery feelings that appeared all of a sudden. I was not going to let that handsome face and his smooth way of changing the subject get the best of me. I looked him right in his dark eyes. “India.”

  “That’s a beautiful name.”

  “My father thought so. He named me.”

  His parents used to tell me stories about growing up in that country on Old Earth. They lived in the African Congo embassy. Every night my father would fall asleep to stories about how beautiful the place was
before the world started to fall apart. He didn’t want to name me after anything else.

  “Who’s your father?” Oliver asked.

  “You’ll find out soon enough.” There was no need to make him any more nervous by telling him that my dad was the one who would personally slap the cuffs on him should things not go right the next day.

  Chapter 8

  The rushing waters of the river grew louder as we approached the meeting place. It was a small clearing in the forest of colorful trees. Oliver chose that place because it was far away from the sectors and it was a communication dead zone. The tall trees also made it impossible for New Earth drones to follow them. There was one tree that caught my eye. One of its limbs was much bigger and twister than the others, outstretching over the center of the clearing. When we arrived the president’s security team was already there—fifteen ground vehicles in total. Our caravan created a semi-circle, our truck at the end.

  Waiting for us was my father in full tactical gear surrounded by thirty men. He hadn’t shaved in days, his salt and pepper beard starting to grow in. Had it not been for the tree we parked next to, he would be able to see me. I wanted to stand up and yell to him, to let him know I was okay.

  Verona pointed her gun right at me before I could lift my butt off the seat. “Don’t give me a reason to shoot you.”

  “There won’t be any of that today,” Oliver said before exiting the vehicle. Ten of his men surrounded him, while others took positions outside of their trucks.

  “You Oliver Adams?” my father asked.

  “I am,” Oliver replied. “I was under the impression I would be meeting with the president.”

  “He asked me to come in his place.”

  “And you are?”

  My father cleared his throat. “Officially, I am Chief Security Officer Trenton Wilson. Unofficially, I am the father of the girl you kidnapped.”

  Oliver’s men looked at him confused, but he took my advice. He didn’t flinch. “And she is here, along with her companions.”

  “Then release them.”

  “I intend to. As soon as I speak with the president himself.”

  My father crossed his arms. “I thought I made myself clear about the president—”

  “And I made myself clear with him. The purpose of this meeting was to negotiate an agreement with him.”

  “You release India Wilson and the other explorers, I will bring the matter to his attention.”

  I watched the men behind them. They were too fidgety. Half of them were like me and never left the sector, let alone had to face the possibility of a shootout. I crossed my fingers, hoping it didn’t come down to that.

  “That wasn’t what we agreed on,” Oliver said.

  “It’s the only option you have.”

  It was Oliver’s turn to cross his arms. “I beg to differ. You can tell the president that when he’s ready to talk in person we can try this again.”

  Oliver turned his back and the worst thing I thought could happen was about to. My father raised his hand. Every last one of his men aimed their guns, charged them, and pointed them right at Oliver. In a split second, Oliver’s men did the same, even the ones who were guarding us.

  Flo grabbed my hand. “We have to get out of here right now,” she said and she was right.

  But I couldn’t move.

  I couldn’t breathe.

  “I can’t let you leave,” my father said. “My orders are to make sure my daughter and the others are safe.”

  “They are, and I had every intention of handing them over to you. The president, however, has not lived up to his side of the bargain.”

  Please, Dad. Don’t make this situation any worse than it has to be.

  He waved his hand toward the men behind him. “You are in no position to negotiate.”

  Oliver stared my father down, but I could see him wiping the sweat from his hands on his pants. He had every right to be nervous. Oliver was outgunned. It would be a slaughter.

  Verona got up from her seat and grabbed me hard by the arm. I tried to snatch it away, but she was a lot stronger than she looked. “We’re going to end this,” she sneered in my ear and dragged me off the truck. She yanked me toward Oliver, who was about to say something but stopped. My father pulled out his gun, and Verona did the same, jamming the barrel of the gun my temple. She dragged me right in front of Oliver, whose eyes were wide. “Enough talking!” she exclaimed.

  “You hurt her and I will kill every last one of you,” my father said, aiming right at her head.

  “And her dead body will hit the ground before you take a shot,” she said.

  Oliver went up to her and whispered, “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Getting results,” she said, never taking her eyes off my father. “This is what you’re going to do. Your men are going to lower their weapons, turn around, and get the hell out of here. Tell your president that if he doesn’t come to us in person I will kill every last one of them, including your precious daughter.”

  Oliver’s eyes darted from her to my father, his confident composure fading fast.

  “Dad, please,” I said as brave as I could. “Do what she says. I promise we’ll all be okay.”

  “I don’t bow down to hostage-taking criminals,” he replied.

  “I know but nobody needs to die here,” I said.

  Oliver took a breath. “She’s right. Lower your weapons and we lower ours. We will do this again another day.”

  Verona’s fingers were digging so deep into my skin she was drawing blood, the barrel still pressed against my temple.

  After a few moments of silence, my father lowered his weapon. “Stand down!” he yelled to his men, and they started to lower their guns.

  Oliver issued the same order and his men started to do the same.

  “Take her back to the truck, Verona,” Oliver said, his eyes narrow and face tight.

  She hesitated. It was long enough for me to see one of my father’s men raise his gun.

  He let off two shots before everyone realized what had happened.

  Seconds later, the forest became a battleground.

  ***

  Run.

  That was all I could do. I didn’t know where Verona was when she let go of me. I just ran, covering my head as splinters of trees flew in the air from the shooting. I ran to the truck, yelling at Phoenix, who was running alone into the woods. Two of our three guards were slumped over the side, the last one still shooting. Flo cowered on the floor in a fetal position, her scream lost in the noise. Thomas was beside her, his stomach filled with blood.

  I shook my scared best friend. She looked up and hugged me so tight. “Oh my goodness, I thought they shot you!” She looked beside her and cried harder. “Thomas! They shot Thomas!”

  Though his eyes were closed he still was breathing.

  “We have to get you both out of here—”

  “Phoenix! Oh my goodness, she left us!”

  I grabbed Flo’s face. “But I’m here. Grab a hold of Thomas and let’s get him out of here.”

  I grabbed his arm and put it around my shoulder. Flo took his legs and helped me pull him off the truck bed. Once he was down she jumped off and grabbed his other arm. “Go straight and don’t stop until I say so!” I said, and Flo nodded.

  We walked as fast as we could away from the gunfire into the woods, leaving the sound of energy blasts and hover engines behind us. Thomas was getting too heavy to maintain the pace, so I chose the nearest tree, and we placed him up against the tree trunk.

  “You stay here with him,” I said, and Flo grabbed my hand.

  “You said you weren’t leaving me here,” she cried.

  I looked back and saw Oliver’s vehicles peeling out. There were dead bodies on both sides of that clearing. I just hoped none of them was my dad. “I have to make sure my dad’s okay.” I snatched my arm away and ran back. Each side was shooting the other, bodies dropping to the ground, including one a few feet in front of me
. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but grabbing that man’s gun just made sense at the time. I charged it and got ready to point it but didn’t know at whom. I couldn’t shoot the officers. It didn’t feel right to shoot Oliver’s men, who were already trying to flee. I just had to make all this stop. I looked up and saw that tree limb and got a crazy idea.

  I aimed my gun at that large branch and emptied the rest of the clip into it. It moaned and then it cracked off, sailing through the sky until it landed hard between the fighting sides. The officers stopped shooting to jump out of the way. Oliver’s men took advantage and ran for their lives. I walked out of the trees, my gun at the ready just in case anyone aimed at me. Then I saw Oliver. Instead of getting onto his getaway vehicle, he was jumping off of it. He was screaming something as he ran toward me, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. The next thing I knew he leaped at me and we both fell hard onto the floor. His face was inches from mine, scrunched up in pain.

  “She was going to shoot you,” was all he could manage to say.

  I saw his hand clutching his side, blood oozing through his fingers.

  “You’re hurt,” I said as I slid out from under him. I got him to his feet, the gunfire finally coming to a stop. Those hover vehicles that managed to get away were long gone. Those that stayed were full of dead passengers. I put his arm over my shoulder just as two of my father’s officers ran up on us.

  “Don’t move!” one of them said.

  “It’s me,” I said. “Where’s my father?”

  The two officers took Oliver from me.

  “We’ll get you patched up,” I told him.

  Oliver nodded before passing out. I ran toward the sector security vehicles and when I saw my father I was beyond relieved. I ran straight to him and threw my arms around him. He kissed my forehead, his face wet with tears. He noticed the blood on my clothes.

  “India, are you all right? Are you hurt?”